Claro Advisors LLC Reduces Position in Sempra (NYSE:SRE)

Claro Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Sempra (NYSE:SRE) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,442 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 127 shares during the quarter. Claro Advisors LLC’s holdings in Sempra were worth $790,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SRE. Eastern Bank acquired a new stake in Sempra during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Family Firm Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Hollencrest Capital Management raised its stake in Sempra by 250.0% during the third quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Sempra during the second quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 89.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Sempra Stock Performance

Shares of SRE stock opened at $92.19 on Monday. Sempra has a 12-month low of $66.40 and a 12-month high of $93.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $84.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.47.

Sempra (NYSE:SRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by ($0.16). The business had revenue of $2.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. Sempra had a return on equity of 8.06% and a net margin of 22.63%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 16.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.08 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Sempra will post 4.77 EPS for the current year.

Sempra Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 5th will be paid a dividend of $0.62 per share. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 5th. Sempra’s payout ratio is currently 54.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SRE has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Sempra from $93.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Sempra in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. They set a “buy” rating and a $98.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Sempra from $87.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Sempra from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Bank of America initiated coverage on Sempra in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $94.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Sempra Company Profile

Sempra operates as an energy infrastructure company in the United States and internationally. It operates through three segments: Sempra California, Sempra Texas Utilities, and Sempra Infrastructure. The Sempra California segment provides electric services; and natural gas services to San Diego County.